The Joys of Teaching
by Totoka
Summary: Gabriel would not let being sick ruin his date. Not a chance. Sick!Gabriel Sabriel AU


Gabriel knew it was going to be a fun day when little Adam Milligan threw up cheerios all over the story time mat. Poor Anna Milton got the brunt of it all over the back of her pink Scooby Doo sweater.

Herding the sobbing redheaded five-year-old and the sick little boy towards the door of the classroom and telling them to stay put a moment, he walked back to his desk and called Kali, the teaching assistant from next door (that he may or may not have had a thing with a few years ago) over to watch the kids while he escorted the two small children to the clinic.

She walked over from the adjoining classroom and gave a whistle. "Cleanup on aisle five," she said, amused, to Gabriel.

"The joys of teaching kindergarten," He laughed. "Better call the janitor, eh?"

"Sounds like the best course of action. I'll get on it."

Giving a nod and a thankful grin, he headed back over to the door to where the two young children stood, giving each of them a hand to grab onto and made his way out of the door with them. Anna continued sniffling most of the way to the clinic and Adam looked worse for wear, having a hard time walking straight. Kid had a pretty nasty bug.

They got to the clinic a few minutes later, walking into the small room to see a cheery redhead behind the desk, typing away on a laptop. Upon entering, she looked up and gave them a smile.

"Hi Adam, Anna," she said standing up, walking over to them. "And hello to you too, Gabriel. What seems to be the problem, kiddos?"

"Hey, Charlie. Adam's got a stomach bug and Anna needs to change her shirt," Gabriel supplied.

Charlie gave Anna a sympathetic once-over, seeing the bits of undigested cereal stuck to her back and went to action. She went to a tub that laid upon a shelf just to the left of her and dug around for a moment. Finally, she gave a quick 'aha!' and pulled out a small shirt.

She bent down and gave it to Anna, and pointed to the door just to their right. "Go on in there and get changed and then I have something to give you, okay?"

Anna shook her head and said a small thank you before heading through the door. It gave a click and Charlie stood, dusting off her slacks as she did so.

"He threw up, so I don't have to take his temperature." She said to Gabriel, before continuing. "Adam, go lay on the cot in the other room and I'm going to call your mommy to pick you up. If you feel sick, there's a trash can in there."

"Okay, Ms. Charlie." Poor kid, he sounded horrible. Gabriel walked him into the other room, picked him up and planted him on the cot.

"If you need anything, just call. Okay, rugrat?"

"Thanks, Mr. Gabriel," Adam said weakly. Gabriel just smiled at him and ruffled the little boy's dirty blond hair before heading back into the main room of the clinic.

"Fun way to start Monday, eh?" Charlie said with a chuckle as Gabriel sat down in her desk chair.

"Oh, extremely." He said with a half-smile. "If Monday's this fun, I can't wait to see what Tuesday holds."

"Look at the bright side," Charlie said, throwing a Dumdum at him from the jar on her desk, "At least you have a date with the moose tonight."

Gabriel set up straighter in his chair, giving the redhead before him a puzzled look. "How do you know that?"

"Your boyfriend's brother is my best friend," she replied. Seeming to accept this, Gabriel popped the cherry Dumdum in his mouth.

The door to the clinic bathroom clicked open and Anna walked out, dawning a t-shirt with Arwen from Lord of the Rings plastered across the front. Charlie's smile widened and Gabriel gave a huff. "Stop turning children into nerds."

"Hush you. I'm doing society a service." Charlie smiled down at Anna and held out the jar of Dumdums to the little girl. "Take as many as you want, you earned it."

Anna's eyes lit up as she took a handful and stuffed them into her pockets, giggling as she did so.

Standing from the chair, Gabriel held his hand out to Anna. "Ready to go back, munchkin?"

"Yup!"

And damn do kids get over things fast.

* * *

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly for the most part. Well, except for little Michael Novak gluing his hand to the table, but Gabriel didn't mind much.

But, as he packed up his school bag and headed out of the classroom at 12:50 (He taught AM kindergarten) after the last of his class had gotten on the bus, he couldn't ignore the harsh thudding behind his temples.

It had started midway through the morning and had gotten progressively worse throughout the school day. Sighing, he slid a hand through his dark blond hair in an attempt to soothe the ache. And now he really wished that he drove to school today because the thought of walking the usual 10 blocks to his apartment was very unappealing at the moment.

But, no. It had been so nice out this morning and he had decided to walk. And damn did he regret that decision now.

When he was about halfway to his house, he had started to feel dizzy and winded. And by the time that his apartment building was within his field of vision, sweat beaded his brow and he could feel nausea rolling through his stomach. It was really a miracle that he was able to fish his keys from his bag and unlock his door. (Although it had taken numerous attempts.)

With much more effort than should have been needed, he pushed the door open, holding onto the doorframe for support. Shifting his body weight against the wall, he nudged the door closed with his foot.

No, no, no. He was not sick. He has a date with Sam tonight. He cannot be sick.

He threw his schoolbag onto the brown sofa that was closest to the door and made his way to it, still leaning against the wall for support. His date wasn't until 7:00 and it was still only 1:30. He could just sleep it off. Yeah, that sounded like the best course of action. He had been looking forward to tonight since last Wednesday and he wasn't going to let a little cold get in the way of that.

Sam was a lawyer, and they didn't really have time to just to go out on conventional dates. God, he loved the giant moose, but he really wished that he wasn't such a workaholic. Not to mention his boss, Crowley, was a complete dick.

They talked on the phone and saw each other every day, since Sam would stop by on his way home from work and just hang out with Gabriel, but it had been a while since they had had an honest to God date.

No, he wasn't going to cancel their date, Gabriel decided as he plopped himself down on the couch, nuzzling his head into one of the square green throw pillows that he had. He could sleep it off. He'd probably feel good as new when he woke up, anyway.

He was just about asleep when he felt soft fur rub across his left hand, which was hanging off the couch, followed by a few soft mewls.

Oh, shit, he had to feed Loki. Poor cat was probably starving. But, _damn_, he did not want to get up. A few more nudges from the black cat and Gabriel groaned, pushing himself up.

"You're lucky I like you," he said to the small feline that was swishing its tail back and forth before him. It gave a small meow in acknowledgment.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going."

He swung his legs over the side of the sofa, a wave of nausea swimming through him as he did so. And wow, getting up really should not be this hard. He pushed himself to his feet, the room spinning a little, and made his way to the kitchen.

Loki followed behind him, tail swishing in satisfaction at the prospect of his human filling his bowl. He's a growing boy, he needed it.

Gabriel grabbed Loki's bowl from the sink, and opening the cabinet beside him, grabbed a small bag of Friskies cat food.

Opening it, he tipped the brightly colored bag horizontally, filling up the bowl about halfway. He placed it on the counter as he picked Loki's bowl up, bending down to put it on the floor.

As he straightened back up, he felt a horrible wave of dizziness role through him. And, God, why was the room spinning so much? He clutched the countertop behind him, trying to steady himself. Black spots began to fill his vision, and his headache seemed to crescendo, making it feel like someone was taking a jackhammer to the back of his eyes.

Before he knew what was happening, he felt himself falling forward, consciousness leaving him as his body made contact with the floor.

* * *

"_-briel!" _

Gabriel felt himself waking, but fought it all the same. He was warm and comfortable, and he really, really did not want to get up.

"_-abriel!" _

And, wow, his pillow was really loud. He needed to get that checked, he decided.

"_Gabriel!" _

Now his pillow was shaking him? The nerve. But, wait, why did his pillow sound like Sam? And why could it talk?

Cracking his eyes open, he found himself leaning against a warm, plaid clad shoulder.

"Samsquatch?" he asked groggily. He looked up, his eyes squinted, and was met with the worried hazel gaze of his boyfriend.

"Thank God," Sam breathed, pulling Gabriel closer to him. Sure, his head ached, and he felt nauseous, but Sam was warm against him and it felt nice. _Really nice._

"Calm down, kiddo, I'm not dead. What are you doing here anyway?" Gabriel asked, confused. Their date wasn't until 7:00 and Sam should be at work until 5:00. What time was it anyway? It was dark through the window. Way too dark to be afternoon. Damn it.

"I came to pick you up." Sam said, his eyebrows knitting together. "I called your cell phone about ten times before I got here, and when you didn't answer, I got worried. And when I knocked on your door and you still didn't answer, I knew something was up. I tried the door and it was open, but it was so dark in here. Loki ran over to me, and he pawed at my leg until I followed him into the kitchen. I saw you lying there, and oh, God, I thought something happened and-"Sam started rambling, panic written across his face, and Gabriel felt a pang of guilt through his chest.

Sam's mom died in a fire when he was a baby, a lot of people he loved had died in fact, and when he got close to someone, he got very attached. The thought of anything happening to anyone he loved was terrifying, and the thought of something happening to _Gabriel _was unthinkable.

Gabriel wrapped his arms around the larger man, shushing him. "I'm sorry I made you worry, kiddo. I'm okay. Promise."

Sam wrapped his arms around the smaller man's narrow waist, resting Gabriel's head on his shoulder. "You're sick," he stated.

"I'm fine," Gabriel protested, but Sam pulled him closer.

"You're burning up, man. We should probably get you to the hospital."

Gabriel looked up at Sam, nose scrunched. "No. I can sleep it off. I just got up too fast."

"Gabriel." Sam's voice had that tone to it, the one that he reserved for when Gabriel did something particularly stupid.

"Sam, I promise, I'm okay. If I feel bad in the morning, I'll go. Promise."

The taller man opened his mouth to protest, but Gabriel gave him that look; that stupid puppy dog face that melted Sam to goo.

"Fine," he resigned. Kissing the top of Gabriel's dark blond locks, he scooped him up in his arms, getting up and making his way to the bedroom, Loki in tow behind them.

He maneuvered Gabriel in his arms as he groped the wall for the light switch. A moment later he found it and flicked it on, light from the lamp on Gabriel's bedside table flooding the room. Gabriel flinched as it did. It made his eyes hurt and the pounding in his head returned full force.

Sam peppered a kiss on his lips in apology and pulled back the dark green duvet on Gabriel's king size bed, setting him down in place. Once Gabriel was settled, Sam made his way over to Gabriel's wardrobe in search of pajamas. He dug around until he found a pair of Gabriel's dark plaid pajama pants and a red t-shirt that was three times too big for him (and looked suspiciously like the one that Sam had that went missing a few months ago), and made his way back over to his lover.

He helped Gabriel sit up in bed, positioning himself behind the smaller man, and leaned him back against his chest. He started to peel the dark green jacket off of Gabriel, pecking another kiss to his hair as he did so.

Any other time, Gabriel would have found Sam stripping him incredibly hot, but right now, it was just sweet.

After a few minutes, Gabriel was in his pajamas, curled up in Sam's lap, warm and feeling a lot better than he had the whole day.

He hissed at the loss of warmth when Sam shifted out of bed, but curled up onto his side regardless.

He was on the brink of sleep when his boyfriend came back, the bed sinking where his moose sat. Sam nudged him, and begrudgingly, Gabriel sat up.

Sam handed him a bottle of Gatorade and two Excedrin and Gabriel felt an overwhelming amount of gratitude run through him. He popped the two small white pills in his mouth quickly, washing them down with a wave of orange liquid. He sipped at the sports drink a few more times before handing it back to Sam.

Sam smiled at him, and placed the bottle on the table. He got up from the bed once more, this time to strip down to his boxers and turn off the light.

Gabriel gave a small whistle and Sam's neck turned a shocking shade of crimson. He gave a small laugh. God, Sam was such a prude. But that was what made him Sam, and was really cute, actually.

With a flustered roll of his eyes, Sam sighed and shifted back into bed beside Gabriel. He pulled Gabriel flush against his chest, spooning him. Gabriel snuggled back into him, drawn to his warmth. It made him feel a lot better.

"You spending the night?" Gabriel asked as Sam's grip on his waist tightened.

"Of course." Sam pressed a kiss to his temple and Gabriel smiled. "Someone's gotta take care of you, after all."

"What about work?" Gabriel frowned.

"They can miss me one day, I'm sure."

Gabriel grinned, and Sam pressed a kiss to his lips.

Sure, it wasn't the date he was hoping for, but lying in bed with Sam pressed up against him, he couldn't force himself to be upset with it. Intertwining their fingers, Gabriel fell asleep, a smile on his lips.

* * *

**Hey, guys. I haven't written anything in a year, so I'm a little rusty, but I had an urge to write this. I've never written a Sabriel fic before, so this is my first. Please tell me what you think of it! Criticism is very welcome and appreciated! Thank you so much for reading! **

**-Totoka **


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